Tech CU awards $1,000 to Super Saver of 2009
Kathleen Litman, vice president of marketing at Tech CU, presents Shih-Shan Tan and Ron Vogel a check for $1,000. Vogel was selected as the Grow Your Green Super Saver of 2009.
San Jose, CA (Dec. 31, 2009) —Technology Credit Union (Tech CU) is proud to announce that Ron Vogel of San Jose, Calif. has been selected as the Grow Your Green Super Saver of 2009 and, as a result, Vogel has been awarded the $1,000 grand prize in Tech CU’s Grow Your Green Savings Challenge.
In March, Tech CU launched the Grow Your Green campaign and online community in an effort to support and encourage members to set and achieve savings goals in 2009. Then on Dec. 15, Tech CU picked the Super Saver of 2009—someone who had been actively saving and participating in the community—and that person would win $1,000 toward their savings goal.
Not only did Vogel save consistently all year to reach his financial goals, but he also shared many of his valuable money-saving tips with other Grow Your Green members. From advice on investing to tips on finding free music and video on the Internet, Vogel regularly contributed to the Grow Your Green community, posting several blog entries each week. (Read them here.)
“We worked hard to win this,” Vogel said, as his wife, Shih-Shan Tan, stood next to him. “This was a team effort. Shih-Shan would look for story ideas and then I would research them and develop them into blog posts. We wrote them with our own experiences of spending and saving in mind.”
One of those experiences, Vogel said, came when he was six years old.
“I loaned my grandfather $20 and a week later, he gave me $30—to cover the full amount, plus interest,” said Vogel. “That’s when I learned that if I was smart with money, I could make more of it.”
Vogel says since then he has tried to share his money management skills with the world. This time it has paid off—literally.
“We knew that more people were being affected by the economy this year so we wanted to help them focus on saving,” said Kathleen Litman, vice president of marketing at Tech CU. “From the start, we designed the Grow Your Green site to encourage comments from, and interaction between, the participants who were saving toward a particular goal. Ron was a major contributor and really cared about helping others. We’re thrilled he’s our Super Saver of 2009.”
And Vogel’s thrilled too.
“I opened the Grow Your Green savings account because I wanted to win the $100 monthly prize,” Vogel said. “That was appealing, but to win $1,000 is an even more wonderful surprise. It’s definitely a great way to end the year. Thank you, Tech CU!”
We’ve picked a Super Saver for 2009!
Ron Vogel will receive $1,000 for being Grow Your Green's Super Saver of 2009!
Congratulations to Ron Vogel for being Grow Your Green’s Super Saver of 2009!
Not only did Ron save consistently all year to reach his financial goals, but he also shared all his wonderful money-saving tips with Grow Your Green members. (You can read them here.)
Stay tuned—we’ll have an interview from Ron in the coming days when we present him with the $1,000 check. How’s that for a holiday gift?
Meet all our $100 monthly winners.
Q&A with Ramie – GYG $100 winner, November
Ramie proudly shows off her granddaughter, Kara, who was born in October. Ramie is saving for Kara's future.
What are you saving for?
I have a brand new granddaughter, Kara, who was born on Oct. 14, 2009, so I am saving for her. Her parents can give her the necessities but I want to be able to provide her with the “fun” stuff: field trips, gifts, money for college.
She’s my first grandchild so I am excited about saving for her future.
What steps are you taking to save each month?
Luckily, I have developed a pretty good habit of saving over the years.
Whenever I get a tax refund or a bonus, I immediately put it into a savings account so I can earn interest on it. This also helps to keep me from the temptation of spending it. For example, when Tech CU offered the one-day Celebration CD with a 4.00% APY, I immediately took $2,500 to open the account.
What is your biggest obstacle when you’re trying to keep a consistent savings plan?
This real estate market has been a challenge for us. We have some big expenses on our rental properties. I don’t normally dip into my savings but I may need to from time to time for miscellaneous expenses like home repairs and insurance. Otherwise, I am trying to grow my balances.
Has the current economy affected your savings plan at all?
Again, it’s our rental properties. We’re upside down on them but I am optimistic that things will slowly turn around.
Do you have any savings tips for other ‘Grow Your Green’ savers?
My co-worker is a single mother of three. I told her to put away $25 for each child each month. In fact, I told her to open a Tech CU ‘Grow Your Green’ Savings Challenge account. She won’t even miss it and at the end of the year, each child will have some extra money for the holidays.
I think the main thing I’d stress is that you have to stay consistent–even if it’s just a few dollars a week. It really does add up and before you know it, you’ll have a nice chunk for when you really need it.
Also, I wanted to say that you called me on my birthday, so thank you so much for the drawing award! This was a great birthday gift for me!
Save $500 for holiday spending
Courtesy: CBSNews.com/The Early Show
OK, who doesn’t want extra cash–especially for the holidays?!
We found a great article on CBSNews.com with tips on how to save $500 for extra holiday spending. The tips are fairly simple, and may actually even help you save more throughout the entire year.
Take a look here. You can also click on the image to the right to watch the interview.
Now that’s growing your green!
More money saving computer tips
Before you click print the next time on your computer, consider the following tips (originally from an AARP article at http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourmoney/saveabuck/articles/save_a_buck_cut_printout_costs.html) to save a little bit of green:
Instead of your current font, try using the free to download ecofont (from http://www.ecofont.eu/ecofont_en.html). This font, available for both Macs and PCs, has lots of tiny holes in the letters. These holes, which are barely noticeable to the average reader, can save up to 20 percent of your ink or toner compared to Verdana (the font ecofont is based upon).
Use the Print Preview function. Then print only the pages you really need (you might be able to not print some of the last parts of a page, for example). On the print preview page, you can also adjust the bottom of a page up to remove some extensive (and ink wasting) graphics like display ads before printing the actual page. Or try GreenPrint which is available free to homes, schools, and non-profits from www.printgreener.com, although there will be advertising. An advertising-free version is available to purchase from the site too.
